So how was Burning Man 2013?

Burning Man 2013 was, in a word, awesome. Of course that's how countless attendees will describe it, and how they they will describe the individual elements and experiences within the festival. The word becomes devalued with overusage, but it really is the word that best captures the feeling of overwhelming, uh, well, awesomeness.

With more people this year, came more of everything it seemed: more art, more artcars, more costumes, more lighting, more music, more friendships, more, more, more. And everything there was was bigger, better, deeper, louder, faster, and funnier. My own experience was on the tame side, since I was committed to hosting several events at my theme camp, Cartoon Commune. I always had another event coming up to prepare for, so was loathe to wander out for too long at a time. Also, in my ten years at Burning Man, I have become somewhat jaded to all the art and spectacle. On some level, I feel I have seen what Burning Man has to offer and will no longer be surprised. Then again, I do occasionally get blown away by something I see or experience out there.

So, I mostly stayed in my little neighborhood of theme camps, some heavy hitters among them like the Black Rock Roller Disco, which hosts a fully functional and sizable skate floor, and oodles of skates to loan out to eager participants. Of course, the music is always top-notch. There was also the Story Portal, which was an artfully crafted stage and set with a large wooden wheel to spin as on a game show. The wheel would provide the participant with a topic for a story, to be told into the microphone for the audience. Others, which I will not describe in detail in this post, include the Temple of Pole-gasm, Seven Sirens Pirate Cove, Xpat Alien, Trifucta, and Dust Fish.

The best thing this year was probably the giant metal sculpture of a woman dancing. It was some 5 stories tall, had a layered lattice structure, with a skeleton of thick steel poles, smaller poles radiating out to form the volume of the flesh, and a seamless, elegantly-curved mesh providing the skin which allowed one to see all the way through the sculpture. I did not have a chance to view this one up close, but even in pictures, it is breathtaking.

The most amazing thing I saw this year was a procession of law enforcement vehicles slowly heading up the 6:00 spoke towards the Man. It must have been about sixty vehicles, and an officer on foot stopping cross-traffic informed us that it was a memorial for a fallen officer. This caused the crowd to become solemn and respectful, except for a few cowards shouting epithets from a safe distance. It was quite a spectacle, and I heard others' stories of their arrival at the Temple, where the memorial was held. Some others may have bristled at the percieved intrusion, but I found it inspiring that the law enforcement community felt themselves enough a part of the event that they are able to use the temple to pray, mourn and pay respects.

Burning Man 2013: Videos: In the Man structure.

It was a beautiful structure this year, shaped like a giant flying saucer, with the Man spinning on top.  I just happened to be approaching the base just as they opened the structure to participants for the first time.  I thus got to be among the first to view the inside. 

 

 

Burning Man 2013 Self-portrait Photos

Prepping for a drum circle in Laguna Beach a few days before leaving for the playa.

Found my early arrival pass, after a moment of panic thinking I might not be able to get in early.

In my upholstery samples suit.

My dome was extra comfortable this year, with an air mattress, warm blankets and pillow.

Relaxing in the dome.

the free radical!

On my bike at night.

On one of the towers of "Catmandu", art project resembling a cat scratching post.

A bit blurry, but it's me, in a tux, serving the public as the "Blue Room Comfort Concierge", giving out mints and hand sanitizer, to make the port-a-john experience at Burning Man a little less horrible.  Always well-received by the people.

A velvet rope between two posts, with a sign saying "Please enter here," stands in front of the "blue room" designated for special treatment.  As attendant, I continually inspect the booth for trash, and spray air freshener inside between uses.

With a participants of my Cartooning Workshop in the communal shade structure of my theme camp, Cartoon Commune.

Vision Sketch: Consciousness-spreading spirit-entities

This image appeared to me as I was coming down from a DMT hit.  The consciousness the figures experience comes to them from outside, as independent and free-acting light-spirits, symbolized as white snakes with two rounded eyes, all emerging from the third eye, or pineal eye, of the ancient one.  Those not woken up by the spirits continue to sleep in darkness. 

Back from my tenth Burning Man: 2013

I have returned safely from my trip to the Black Rock Canyon of Nevada.  The weather was great, with nary a single dust storm the whole week.

The art festival was again spectacular.  Every year the scale of the art and theme camps seems to outdo itself, and this year was no exception.

My own experience this year was laid-back and mostly in-camp.  I did get out a few times, but not as much as in previous years.  But that was fine for me, as I have already experienced plenty of great times on the playa with the interactive art, massive rave camps, etc in my previous nine years, and have a bit of a jaded, "been there, done that," feeling towards it all.  But I love seeing the virgin and newer burners experience these things for the first time, and having their minds blown.

Instead of going out a lot, I hosted several events in our humble theme camp, Cartoon Commune, including Laughter Yoga and a cartooning workshop.  They were quite well-attended and much appreciated by the attendees.  Other events in our camp included daily Longevity Stick exercise, 60's dance party, Goth dance party, Improv Comedy, Open Mic Nite, Life Drawing, souvenir button-making, fortune-teller, and massage parlor.

Our camp was better than ever this year thanks to the hard work of my campmates, Gerflash, Fountain, Nostrildamus, and the rest.  My Uncle Mike set up a display of his artful 3D pictures with the red and blue glasses, which were a big hit.  We had a large shade space for our guests and ourselves, with a stage, benches, chairs, LED floodlights, and some frontage art consisting of dream catchers made from hula hoops and old magnetic tape.  As always, our lovely and inspiring wind-powered gray water evaporation system, the Gray-B-Gone Evap-O-Tron, constructed from a design found online, handled our gray water beautifully.  Louis (aka Fountain), arranged a small kitchen complete with a "rocket stove" from recycled coffee cans and newspaper, and a "kitchen sink," so we were able to cook fresh hot meals for our camp dinners.  I made a vegan stew, (Louis is vegan), and other meals included sandwiches, felafel, chili, and lentil soup.  The massage parlor was a carport structure with privacy tarps on the sides, with two massage tables and all the necessary lotions and oils.

I made a shrine from a repurposed medicine cabinet decorated with scenes of my favorite playa experiences, and with portraits of some of my favorite inspirational figures on the back.

My personal dome was especially comfortable this year, with a queen-sized air mattress with warm flannel sheets and blankets, topped with a ornately-patterned comforter and a few throw pillows.  I covered the rest of the floor in cushions, except for my gear which stacked neatly in waterproof bins.  An extra layer of shade on top made it semi-cool in the heat of the day, with the door wide open and a small vent in back to let the breeze through.